Man wanted in string of Manhattan sex attacks

Police are searching for a man who sexually assaulted at least five women throughout Manhattan from December to January.

Most assaults were in lower Manhattan with at least one attack near Hamilton Heights, police said.

During the most recent attack, on Wednesday, the man approached a 31-year-old woman from behind as she was opening the door of her apartment building at about 2:30 a.m., police said.

The man grabbed her waist and pulled her pants down. But the woman yelled and the suspect pushed her away and fled.

During the first incident, on Dec. 9, the man grabbed the backside of a 25-year-old woman as she was entering her apartment building near the East Village just before 6:30 a.m. She screamed and the suspect ran, police said.

In the most violent attack on Dec. 28, the suspect followed a 22-year-old woman into an apartment building on just after 6 a.m. on East 6th Street and sexually assaulted her in the stairwell, police said. She was taken to Beth Israel Hospital with minor injuries.

The man is described as about 25 years old, 180 pounds with short hair. He was last seen wearing a Yankees baseball hat.